Scrabble: The Aftermath
by InsanityUnleashed
Summary: This is a carry on of FallingStarXan's 'Scrabble'. Yes I do have her permission. :D You should probably read 'Scrabble' first, though you don't have to, it'll give you a little background on her character Xan. It might help if you're a bit confused.


**This is my first published story. Please tell me what you think! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who (Sadly. Otherwise he would currently be stuffed in my closet.) or Xan. Xan is FallingStarXan's character, and I have her permission.  
><strong>**Secret, though, is mine, so if you steal her, I might just have to kill you. Unless you ask nicely. :P Enjoy!**

"Did you honestly _have_ to shred that dictionary? I liked that one," The Doctor complained as they moved off to a different place.

"Yes, I did. And you like everything you own." Xan was not impressed with him, and even though the atmosphere was tense, they both ignored it and continued with doing what they loved. Xan was reading a book, sitting cross-legged on the TARDIS floor, and the Doctor was fixing things that weren't broken while he tried thinking of a place they could go.

"I got it!" He called triumphantly, "We can go visit one of my other companions! You'll like her."

Xan muttered under her breath, "Why are they always girls?"

"What was that?" He asked, fiddling with the mess that made up the controls for the TARDIS.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just bored of this book." She wasn't that bored with the book; in fact it was quite interesting, as it was about the science behind the whole 'bigger on the inside' thing. Time Lord technology. Which Xan was very curious about. But, she was also more interested about this companion of his. Who could it be?

Martha was working nowadays, Donna wasn't allowed to remember the Doctor otherwise she would die, and Rose was in another universe. She didn't know about anyone else. "Have you told me about her?"

"Ahh, no. Don't know why though, we had some really good adventures." Actually, he did know why, he just didn't want to say why they weren't still traveling together. The Doctor almost felt like sighing. It had been so long! Well, not for her, but for him it had been more than fifty years. She would have seen him a little over a month ago.

After the coordinates were set, he yanked on a lever, and the TARDIS burst into motion. Xan gripped onto one of the coral pillars as the time machine started rumbling around her. "How long has it been?"

"About one month. You know how I am with timing."

Xan nodded, yes she did know. Even with a time machine, he found it extremely difficult to actually be on time. That was the Doctor, and she wouldn't have him any other way, even though he could be infuriating sometimes.

The TARDIS stopped, and he made his way over to the door, Xan right behind him. "Will she be happy to see you?" He mumbled something. "I didn't hear you."

"I don't know. Maybe." She sighed in frustration. That man! What was she going to do with him!

It was warm outside, a pleasant summer afternoon, in New Zealand of all places. She raised an eyebrow at their surroundings. They were in a small, forested area, with a stream behind and a pond with trees surrounding it in front. She could see a building on top of the hill outside the gully. Cicadas all around made for a cheerful mood, though Xan was impervious to hay feeling after the recent disaster.

The Doctor started up the worn path, past a full-grown patch of bamboo, and up a steep driveway that lead to nowhere. When he reached the house up ahead, he started walking cautiously. Xan followed suit. Who knew what might happen if he was found by someone else?

The house was made of dark wood, and had a giant garden, similar to the gully that served as her backyard, Xan noticed. Who was this person?

The Doctor stopped suddenly, and Xan almost walked into him. She poked her head around his tall figure, trying to see what had made him stop.

There was a figure standing in the doorway of the sliding door to their immediate right. She, because it was definitely a she, was short, and the first thing Xan noticed about her, other than her height, or lack of it, was how white she was.

She was wearing a white blouse, with pale blue jeans, but that wasn't the cause of it. She had white hair, cut shorter than the Doctor's, alabaster skin, white-grey eyes, and she seemed to be... glowing?

"Doctor," she said. "What are you doing here?" She sauntered over to him and poked him in his chest on the last word. "And who is this?" Xan stepped out from behind him to introduce herself, but the Doctor bet her to it.

"This is Xan Russell, a scientist from 2021," She nodded for him to continue. "And, I'm here for a visit. Unless you want something more?" The white girl glared at him.

"Think about what you say before you say it. But, come in. We need to talk about your wayward tendencies." She grabbed his hand in a familiar way, and began pulling him inside.

"What wayward tendencies?" He argued as they went through the door, into some kind of lounge. Both of the females gave him a look, though he only saw the one his previous companion gave him. "What?"

They stopped outside of the kitchen, and Xan nudged the Doctor for his attention, "What's her name?"

The person in question answered for him, "Secret. You like tea?"

Xan pondered this, "Why is your name Secret?" she said instead of answering the question.

"Several reasons. And I'm going to assume you do. I like tea..." She continued fussing in the kitchen. "Oh, would you like to sit down? There's a table behind you if you didn't notice."

The Doctor moved over to said wooden table, and sat down. "Have you seen the House lately?"

"No. It's hard to get there without my energy being picked up. You know what I mean. Does she?"

"Ahhhh..."

"No, then. You didn't tell her anything, did you? See what I mean about those tendencies? Okay then," Secret came out from the kitchen, several cups of tea in her hands. "First things first," she put down the cups and sat next to the Doctor.

In a move neither of the newcomers saw coming, Secret hit the Doctor over the head, as they were more level while sitting. "You're being mean again. And, also, a scientist? That's one I never would have guessed. Is there anything you haven't told me, before I burst into my story?"

"Yes," Xan said, "I'm a Time Lady."

She nodded, "I guessed. But good to know you're an honest one. Better than some of the others too. Anyway, I'm an alien, like you two. I'm a Tysha, or a Starborn. You might know what that is..."

Xan searched her memories. Nothing. She shook her head.

"Right then. My race is as old as the Weeping Angels. I assume you know about them, because it'll take too long to explain otherwise. I actually am the last of my kind, because there were two others, who I had to kill. There's a whole story behind that, but that will take too long, as you're only here for the night, and it would take a little over three days to explain everything. What you need to know is that we never do anything by halves. Hence the dead part.  
>"The Starborn vanished aeons ago, and I was kidnapped, so I was left behind. I don't remember how the other two survived, but anyway. We have the ability to give sentience to otherwise inanimate objects, and several other ones that are unique to the star-type and Starborn themselves. As you can tell, my star is a white star, and white stars are Empaths. The other two were red and blue. Red was mental capabilities, and blue was physical strength. Anything else you want to know, we can talk about it later. Such as my physical biology, I might even give you a tissue sample if you want it. But, for now, I want to know what you've been up to, Doctor. How did you pick up this one?"<p>

They spent the afternoon chatting, and Xan and Secret got to know each other very well, and although Xan really wanted to know why Secret wasn't still traveling with the Doctor, it wasn't a question to be asked around him, because it was obviously a painful subject for him.

The time went by fast, and Secret insisted that they take the spare rooms, just down the hall from her room upstairs. She bounded up them two at a time to get them sorted out for the pair.

"So, what do you think?" The Doctor asked Xan.

"I like her. We should visit again sometime. She's good for you. I don't know anyone else that's willing to hit you when you do something stupid. And that happens a lot. Will you ask her to come with us?"

"I might. She's sure to say no though. I mean after last time-" He cut himself off, but before she could question him further, Secret had come back, and showed them to their rooms. Xan's was closer to Secret's room, and opposite the door to the Doctor's.

They were at the very top of the staircase when Secret told them, "if either of you sneak into the other's room, I will hear you. I may look human, but I'm more than that. Don't try anything. But, feel free to come pester me with your questions. She went into her room, and waited for the Doctor to appear. He did, just like she knew he would. "How've you been holding up?" She asked before he could say anything.

"Alright. You know how it is." She walked over to him, and pulled him away from the door. "What's been happening with you? You haven't said much at all, even though we've been talking for hours." He pulled her into a hug as he asked.

She gave a sad smile, "it's hard. They're so oblivious to the world around them. It's sweet, but you can't help but wish you could do the same thing. I can fake it. I can fake it so good it's almost real, but it's not good for me, living here alone. There's no one to distract me, to whisk me off my feet. It's only too easy to fade into the background. To think about everything until I can't see what's right in front of me."

You know how I am. You know exactly what I'm feeling, don't you? I can't help but think if I had been better, if I had run faster, if I was more, I could have saved him. You're not alone anymore. Treasure it, like you know you should. I truly am the last." She stepped back, and sat on the bed, unable to support herself any more. He followed, and wrapped her in his arms again. They just sat there, for what felt like hours; an instant; a lifetime.

Xan peeked inside, and saw them there. She ducked out, before she was seen herself, and walked back to her room. It had a view of the gully, the trees peacefully swaying in the breeze. And if you listened hard enough, it sounded like the ocean, the rustling of leaves changed to the rushing of water. Xan blinked as she saw the ocean in front of her, the sea grey from the cloudy sky. The wind swept past her, and her hair ruffled from the strength of it. The grass beneath her bare feet was cold and smooth, the sand hidden between and beneath the green carpet. A bird flew straight towards her, and she flinched...

She was back inside the house, grey carpet beneath her feet, white walls in front of her, and the rustling of leaves once more a part of the background. She noticed the sun had moved, and her feet were sore. She must have been standing there for more than half an hour, though it felt like seconds. Her muscles were stiff, and she sat on the bed before beginning to stretch them.

The Doctor and Secret were murmuring away down the hallway, and for a moment Xan considered listening in, but shook her head at the idea and moved on to her arms. They hadn't seen each other in what must've felt like a lifetime, though neither of the times spent away were that long. Secret looked tired, hopeless, like she had nothing to look forward to, and nothing worth looking back on. But she must've had some great adventures with the Doctor, aside from all the death threats and traps he had to get out of, it was fun, and not one moment would she forget. But, Xan remembered, she had a haunted look in her eyes when she talked about the other Tysha. Like there was something that she had to do to save her own life, which was at such a cost she wasn't sure if it was worth it.

Secret was just getting ready for bed when Xan raised her hand to knock, "come in," she called before the girl could tap on the door.

She walked in, closing the door behind her, "how did you know I was there?"

"I heard you walk over, and your drawn in breath before you were going to knock told me you intentions." Secret quickly turned away and pulled off her shirt, getting into her pajamas as the girls talked.

"I don't breathe that loud." Xan said.

"I'm not human."

"True. You said something about powers unique to the individual, right?" Secret nodded. "Can you show me yours?"

Xan could see her considering her request, and waited with anticipation. "Sure. This is just the main one." Secret made sure she was watching, and Xan saw Secret vanish in a shower of silver sparks and shards of mirrors. When it was over, two seconds later, there was a grey cat left where Secret had just been. The cat padded around for a bit, brushing up against Xan's leg. Xan absent-mindedly stroked the cat, and it leapt onto the bed, and burst into those same sparks.

When Secret was back in human form, Xan asked her about her name. "Well, when I was first with the Doctor, he saved my life. Then we went on an adventure, as you do, and we met Martha. We went adventuring with him, and I had so many secrets. So many things that I didn't know. Martha didn't know about me being able to change form. She didn't even know I wasn't human. Everything was a secret with me, and I was the Doctor's secret. That's where it came from, mostly."

Xan asked the next most important question, "Why did you leave?"

She took a deep breath. "When I was with him, we were confronted by the red Starborn, Aylex, and we managed to get him to back off, you see he was set on the idea of saving the race. I won't go into detail. So, we got away after that, went to see Sherlock Holmes, and such. And then, after a break, the other Starborn, the blue one, his name was... Streyl, I think. He had the same idea, and he was a lot harder to get rid of."  
>And then, after we got away from him, Aylex came back, I don't know how he found us, and he captured the Doctor. Streyl was working with him, after things didn't work out, and then something went wrong. I was forced to make a decision. It was the Doctor, or the Tysha. You know what I chose. But, it's been with me ever since. Their faces as they realized they were about to die. Being killed by one of the last of their own. I killed them. And now I'm the last one. The Doctor thought he was too, but I'm glad he has you."<br>It's not a nice feeling, being the only one left. Because even if there's a whole room of people around you, you're always alone. Nobody like you. Nobody the same. I was told once, 'no matter how different we are, we are the same'. That's a lie. Nobody truly knows what it's like, other than me, and the Doctor. He thought he was alone, and I've never been so happy to be proven wrong. You're just what he needs..." Secret seemed to run out of the strength to speak.

Xan didn't usually show affection to almost complete strangers, but this girl had just told her the hardest part of her life, and was quite obviously in pain.

She tentatively hugged Secret, and the Tysha clung on like she was the only thing keeping her alive. The Doctor walked in with three hot chocolates, and they spent the rest of the night sharing all the adventures they had, and all the laces they had been. When the Doctor got to the scrabble incident, as Xan thought of it, Secret couldn't stop laughing, and the room was filled with a soft white light.

The Doctor had his smug face on, and when Xan asked why the Tysha was glowing, his grin got wider. Secret remembered the first time he had asked that question, and felt like grinning as well. So she did, and let Xan interrogate her until she couldn't think of any more questions. She was quite content to let herself be comforted by her friends, because Xan knew too much to just be someone she knew.

When morning came, the Doctor did ask if Secret wanted to come with them, and she agreed. "Only one though. Not the 'just one' you gave Martha. I will only willingly come for one more adventure. That's it. You pull any thing else, and I'll give you bruises. I promise you that."

**Also, FallingStarXan, I didn't know the answer to some questions Secret asked Xan, so I hope I got the answers right. **

**If there is anything incorrect, please tell me so I can fix it.**


End file.
